How to Add Pixelmon Shaders and Resource Packs

Looking to add a little extra to your Minecraft experience? With Minecraft and Pixelmon shaders or resource packs, you can customise the look and feel of your game! See reflections in the water; enjoy enhanced lighting; and adjust the appearance of blocks!

WARNING: DO NOT MODIFY MINECRAFT WHILE IT IS RUNNING! THIS MAY CORRUPT YOUR FILES.

SECTION I: SHADERS

What are shaders?

Shaders are game addons that change the way Minecraft renders its display for the user (player). For example, the following is a screenshot of Pixelmon 3.5.1 (MC 1.7.10) utilizing SEUS:

How do I install shaders?

First and Foremost, I recommend Optifine. Optifine helps Minecraft allocate resources better, which is very useful for running Minecraft and Pixelmon shaders. Even if you don’t intend to use shaders, it may help improve loading and reduce client-side chunk lag.

NOTE: Forge users (such as users of Tekkit) may have to go into config files. This is outside the scope of this guide. Optifine is not required, unless stated by the shader you want to utilize.

Second, I recommend you look at the benchmarks for your graphics card (GPU). There are many websites for this, although I prefer Passmark for its card card comparison function. You will need a decent GPU if you wish to have farther chunks visible & higher quality renders. (the above lake render was completed using an NVIDIA GTX 770)

Each Mod lists install instructions specific for their setup. Some have an auto-launcher that does the work for you. If you have questions about a specific shader, please refer to the support section of that shader’s website.

In general, most shaders will require a folder called “shaderpacks” within the root .minecraft folder. The TechnicLauncher creates a different folder than default; with the file tree following the path directory [Profile]/AppData/Roaming/.technic/[mod]/. The [Profile] will be your computer profile, and [Mod] will be the modpack you are running.

NVIDIA-specific card info:

NVIDIA is a bit disingenuous about their card numbering. As such, a small blurb is appropriate to identify how capable your card is of running shaders:

[x]20 (720, 820, 920) – Low end.

You will likely not be able to run shaders at low framerates (single-digits).

Commonly used in laptops (720 M, for example).

[X]30 (730, 830, 930) – Low end workstations.

Same as the x20’s

Commonly used in large contracts for office computers.

[X]50 ( 750, 850, 950) – Mid range.

You will likely have to run the game on low-to-mid settings with tweaks to use shaders.

[X]60 (760, 860, 960) – Mid range.

Slight step-up from the [X]50 series.

[X]70 (770, 870, 970) – High-ish range.

Will run shaders on mid-to-high settings.

You may have lower framerates without optimizing your settings.

[X]80 (780, 880, 980) – High end.

You should be able to run the shaders with little issue.

NOTE: Mobile (M) chipsets are different than desktops and are normally the equivalent of running an [X]20 series card for that series.

Activating Minecraft and Pixelmon Shaders

Once the shader is installed per its specific requirements, accomplish the following:

1. Start Minecraft.

2. Navigate to “Options”.

3. Select “Shaders”.

4. Choose the appropriate shader.

5. Select “Done”

That is the end of this portion!

SECTION II: RESOURCE PACKS

What is a resource pack?

A resource pack is a collection of files that change the way minecraft appears (visual or auditory) to players. As with Minecraft and Pixelmon shaders, it is on the client-side. The following is a screenshot of Pixelmon 3.5.1 with the Pokebox Texture Pack: